Mask Built Off Lies
by JustANha
Summary: Shinobi from all around feared the Shin'en no Kitsune. People of Konoha simply saw Naruto as a troublemaking brat. How wrong they were. But when the jinchūriki is finding it harder to keep his 'mask' of happiness on and his team start to suspect something he struggles to cope when Sasuke finds out something he was better off not knowing.
1. Introduction

Title: Mask Built Off Lies

Summary: Shinobi from all around feared the Shin'en no Kitsune. People of Konoha simply saw Naruto as a troublemaking brat. How wrong they were. The jinchūriki is finding it harder to keep his 'mask' of happiness on and his team start to suspect something. Especially Sasuke.

Disclaimer: If I owned it why would I be on this site?

A/N: Just a little thing that's been floating around my head for a while :P Enjoy.

* * *

Naruto grimaced. The beating from last night had not yet fully healed and pain lanced through his body with every small motion he made. Even with his accelerated healing rate, the mob was unusually vicious and had made several deep gashes along his arms and chest. Sighing, Naruto wrapped the last of the bandages around his arms and took off to the Team 7 training grounds. He absently made a note to restock on instant ramen once he finished his special Henge designed to not dispel upon a 'Kai' or physical contact, making it perfect to manoeuvre around and buy groceries. Until then, he would have to see if he could leech off Iruka or go hungry.

He paused outside the meeting spot and frowned before taking a deep breath and running in to greet Sakura with the usual sunny smile. She never noticed when his smile ceased to reach his eyes. No-one ever did.

"Sakura-chan! Good morning! Do y'think we'll get a B or even A rank today? Ne, ne?"

Team 7 was now a group of one Jonin (Kakashi), Two Chunin (Sasuke and Sakura) and one genin (Naruto). The reason for this was because despite Naruto's performance over the years, the bias of the council had rejected his applications into the Chunin exam under the excuse of 'Kyuubi-might-go-rampage-and-we-can't-trust-you-so-no.' He hated how even through Tsunade's efforts, the council overruled her decision…multiple times.

Over the years, he had forged an ANBU identity as Shin'en no Kitsune (Fox of the Abyss) where he could truly be himself and drop his mask of an idiot and deadlast. He was never stupid and was the true definition of a genius. From young he had been forced to live on his own to survive and he had taught himself the basics of Math and how to read. No-one outside of his ANBU team Anko, Genma, Iruka (who later asked to re-enter ANBU service after retiring from his position as a teacher) and Tsunade and Shizune knew his true identity.

"Naruto-baka. Shut up." Sakura simply replied before turning to the Uchiha next to her. "Sasuke-kun, will you go on a dat-"

"No." Came the curt reply from the raven as he glanced towards the blonde. "Dobe, tried to add to your non-existent fashion sense?" He jabbed at his friend's bandages, thinking they were an added accessory.

Naruto was not in the mood however, and simply glared in return.

"Oi, dobe."

The blonde looked sharply up in shock before his mind registered what he was meant to do. He pasted a fake smile onto his face and started to babble on about ramen. Sakura passed it off as a strange mood swing but Sasuke simply stared at the jinchūriki with growing concern. (Not that he would admit it) Why was the dobe acting so strange? He hadn't been called 'teme' once. How odd.

It was then their silver-haired sensei chose to appear. "Yo!"

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto shouted though Naruto's shout was not as exuberant and rather half-heartedly shouted.

"Haha, sorry- you see I had to help get my neighbour's ex-boyfriend's sister's cat out of a tree at the other side of Konoha and when I was headed here a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around." He lied offhandedly.

"Liar!" The two students shouted in unison again.

"Well, anyway, no missions today because I have a meeting to attend, ja ne!" The Cyclops disappeared in a plume of smoke as the remainder of team 7 stared on in irritation.

Naruto left without another word to his team.

* * *

"Mission accomplished Hokage-sama." The ANBU reported as they stood waiting for a dismissal from the Hokage.

"Well done- excellent job for the execution without any additional casualties, I expect a report on my desk by tomorrow morning. For now, head home and get some rest." The blonde replied before adding on something before the ANBU team left. "Kitsune, could you stay for a second?"

The fox masked ANBU hung back before running a hand through his bright blonde locks. "Yes Tsunade baa-chan?"

Tsunade chuckled as she threw a paperweight at her favourite gaki. "Take off your mask…Naruto."

Naruto swiftly removed his mask as he caught the object thrown at him and replaced it gracefully on her desk, a tired smile adorning his face.

"You aren't coping with both duties." It was more of a statement rather than an inquiry. Tsunade took note of Naruto's glazed eyes- she hated it. It suited a veteran far better than that of a child. _'One that shouldn't have experience half the things he has.'_ She added mentally.

The shorter blonde didn't reply before dully stating. "October 10 is next week."

The Hokage rubbed her temples in a circular motion before breaking the news to the ANBU. "Look, Naruto, about that- I'm temporarily pulling you out of ANBU services, the stress on you is too much."

Naruto looked shocked before he felt his temper flare. "You can't do this! What do you plan my team on doing? None of them are willing to replace me as captain during my absence. And you of all people should _know_ what happens during _that_ day! I need to be out of Konoha by that day! I can't stay!"

"Naruto I-"

"You out of everyone should understand. I _can't_ be in Konoha!" Naruto's eyes flashed red with barely restrained anger.

"Please…you're pushing yourself too hard. You can't keep up with your duties while being on another team." Tsunade attempted to reason.

"Oh please. My wonderful team consisting of a screaming banshee, revenge driven emo and an incompetent teacher." He muttered sarcastically.

The Hokage felt guilt well up inside her. She knew Naruto was trying to escape the wrath of the villagers and many shinobi alike on his birthday but he had been pushing himself to take several S rank missions in order to get out of the village. "Naruto…"

"You can't do this!"

"As the Hokage I have all the right to do this Kitsune." She said sternly, her resolve solidifying. The blonde had to learn to stand up to the villagers, running away would only serve to add to his problems over the years. "My decision is final. I'll inform your teammates as soon as I can but for now take some time to go on mission with team 7."

"I'll be taking my leave now then _Hokage-sama_." The honorific attached to the end of her title made her feel crushed. Naruto had never addressed her in anyway other than 'baa-chan' unless he was pissed. She sighed as the blonde left in a yellow flash much like his father.

"I need sake."

* * *

A/N: This is an intro to this fic. There won't be sasu/naru until later on though, it's more of an angst/trag fic ;; (On a brighter note I'm getting the official bleach fanbook! Woot!) Review please?

~Nhazun


	2. Chapter 1

Mask Built Off Lies

Summary: Shinobi from all around feared the Shin'en no Kitsune. People of Konoha simply saw Naruto as a troublemaking brat. How wrong they were. The jinchūriki is finding it harder to keep his 'mask' of happiness on and his team start to suspect something. Especially Sasuke.

Disclaimer: Hopefully I'll get Naruto for my birthday of something, until then I'll sulk.

A/N: Decided to continue it. This is really short btw.

* * *

It was a B rank gone wrong. It was meant to be a relatively easy mission- to escort a rich Mayor to a secluded town in Kusa (Grass) near the border of Iwa. Team 7 hadn't expected to encounter Orochimaru of all people. Things continued to take a downward turn after that. Naruto couldn't reveal anything about Chunin abilities for fear of his ANBU identity being found out as most of his high level moves were easily linked to his Kitsune persona.

What happened next had sent the S rank missing nin off with his lackey Kabuto in tow. Naruto had released six tails of the Kyuubi. The blonde's growing frustrations and pent up anger led to his loss of control over the Kyuubi's chakra and it resulted in a 'Version 2'. This meant that unlike an incomplete shroud of the Kyuubi's chakra, blood from the jinchūriki mixed with the biju's chakra to form a black shroud. The six tails form with a skeleton composed of pure chakra sitting on top of the already beast-like form. It was that he had lost any recognition of who were allies and everyone was classified an enemy.

In his rampage, he had hurt Sasuke; badly enough to place him into critical condition. Worst of all, neither Sakura or Sasuke had known their teammate was the vessel for the Kyuubi and now their suspicions were peaked.

* * *

Naruto was exhausted. The encounter with Orochimaru had left him both physically and emotionally drained. Today was the day Sasuke was let out of hospital and his birthday- more commonly known as the Kyuubi Festival. He had spent all day constructing and placing hundreds of seals over his apartment to prevent all intruders shinobi and villagers alike. The blonde had no doubt that civilians would try to massacre his belongings and take advantage of his presence in the village to persecute him.

Call it paranoia but he, the feared Shin'en no Kitsune was scared. He had no intention of stepping an inch out of his apartment until he remembered there was another team _7 _meeting. He had called in sick but the damn Hatake and his nosiness had the Cyclops heading over to Naruto's apartment and dragging him out. He had briefly considered revealing his identity and ordering his 'sensei' to leave him, Naruto didn't want to be outside. Especially today.

* * *

If his sensei noticed how harsh the glares and sneers were as he lugged his student through the streets, he chose not comment. He had a sneaking suspicion that Naruto was feeling guilty for Sasuke's injury, after all, a certain pink-haired girl had decided to react badly to news of their teammate holding the greatest of the biju.

_~Flashback no jutsu~_

_It was the typical team 7 meeting, aside from the fact that Sasuke was currently incapacitated and unable to attend which frankly, wasn't an everyday occurrence and proved to be not-so-typical. Naruto, although still chatty spoke in a more subdued manner most likely because of his raven-haired teammate's injury._

"_And so, I was telling Iruka-sensei that it was horrible he thought I couldn't eat more than 12 bowls I mean he should never doubt my wonderful ramen-guzzling skills because I proved him wrong when I ate 15 at the Ichiraku Ramen special I mean you should've seen the look on his face it was absolutely pricele-"_

"_Naruto." Sakura's voice was unnaturally calm but you could hear the barely restrained anger and one could immediately tell she was mad, no- enraged that not only has their 'dead-last' of a teammate hurt his ally but showed more strength than her precious 'Sasuke-kun' could. "What was that red chakra you showed on the last mission?" _

_Naruto grew quiet as he fidgeted and glanced in the direction of their mentor who gave a nod. He sighed, judging by the bubble-gum haired girl's demeanour, she would not take it too well. _

"_Sakura," Kakashi started, "You'll need to sit down for this, and we'll bring Sasuke in on this too."_

"_What do you mean 'bring us in' on it? What do you know that Sasuke-kun and I don't?"_

"_It regards a certain S-rank village secret…" _

_Flashback no jutsu: Kai!_

At the team 7 training grounds, Sakura caught sight of the jinchūriki and gave a disapproving glance. Her mum was right, perhaps Naruto was a demon- after all, he had hurt Sasuke. Who could say that Naruto wouldn't lose control again? Sasuke seemed to be indifferent but Sakura refused to believe her teammate was anything but evil. _'And when he brought Sasuke-kun back from Orochimaru too, he used the Kyuubi's chakra, what if he is just acting and waiting for us to let down our guard then kill us?' _She thought.

"Dobe," Sasuke greeted as Naruto gave a sigh of relief, at least his raven-haired teammate acted like normal.

"Teme."

"So," The one-eyed jonin began, "Since we're all in a festive mood, how about we take a short C-rank to celebrate Sasuke's release from the hospital?" He eye smiled.

"B-but, Kakashi sensei, what if…" _'What if Naruto loses control again?_' Sakura trailed off as the rest was left unspoken but what it implied was still hurtful to the blonde. It really hurt, he had revealed one of his closest secrets only to be shunned.

'Just like the rest.' The genin's mind supplied helpfully.

"There is nothing to be worried about Sakura. I'm sure Naruto is in full control." Their teacher replied, expression unwavering.

"W-what if-" The girl never got to finish before she was harshly cut off.

"Just shut up."

"What?" Sakura stared, her face showing utter disbelief.

"I told you to fucking shut up. Or is your vocabulary so limited that you can't understand a couple of words?" Naruto bit out, venom lacing his voice. "Or wait, perhaps you're too infatuated with your dear _Sasuke-kun_," He said, mimicking in a falsetto voice. Even then, he still proved a danger to his team. They didn't know anything and it hurt.

By now even Sasuke was pulled to attention. Naruto had never spoken like that in all the years they had been together as a team.

"Maa maa, Naruto, no need to be so harsh, I suggest you tone down what you say, I do realise you may be angry at Sakura's reaction to the-" Kakashi warned the blonde.

"Angry? Me? No I'm not angry, I'm fucking livid. I don't want _you_ of all people lecturing me _Hatake_. You don't even know me so act like you do!" Naruto replied. By now all warmth had drained from his eyes leaving icy blue orbs in their wake. His smile contorted into a bitter smirk. "None of you ever knew me. You all see me as a trouble making brat, someone who is clumsy and dense. Well all your theories can go to hell. _I quit_. Don't think for a second you understand me."

"Naruto-"

But said blonde had no intention of letting them off just yet, "You don't know what it's like being hated all your life, dealing with the scorn and hate directed at you; you try to ignore it but it still hurts! You think I'm always happy but you're all too freaking blind to recognise that no, I'm not."

"Naruto. We're taking you to Tsunade-sama, you're not acting like yourself." Kakashi reasoned. A look of hatred in his direction and the scarecrow winced. Ok, plan B anyone?

There was no need to as the blonde had taken off in the direction of his apartment after sending one last scathing glare in the direction of his (now former) team.

* * *

He wasn't coping. He cursed himself as he thought back on his actions. So now his team knew he was acting but now what? They would most likely spread rumours- all those years of work to act like an idiot to avoid suspicion down the drain. Why did everything have to go downhill?

Naruto raced blindly through the streets as he soon found himself in front of Iruka's apartment. Knocking softly he waited for a response and made to turn away when the door opened.

"Naruto?" His father figure asked, surprised.

"I-Iruka-sensei..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say. He was scared and for the first time in years, truly did not know what to do. All the accumulated stress on the boy proved too much- he collapsed.

* * *

A/N: Oh the angst, it burns~ Ok, this is short but I'll *hopefully* update soon. I'm stumped with Legacy Namikaze ._. Anyway, not intentionally trying to bash Sakura, the poor girl's just oblivious.


	3. Chapter 2

Mask Built Off Lies

Summary: Shinobi from all around feared the Shin'en no Kitsune. People of Konoha simply saw Naruto as a troublemaking brat. How wrong they were. The jinchūriki is finding it harder to keep his 'mask' of happiness on and his team start to suspect something. Especially Sasuke.

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine to sell, make, reprint, draw the manga, only buying the manga.

A/N: Updates will be slow because I have school but for now, enjoy.

* * *

Sasuke cursed, he had been valiantly trying to find Naruto after the blonde dobe had run off to no avail. Heck, he felt so stupid that even after all those years as a team, he didn't even know where his teammate (or former/ex teammate, now that Naruto had fled after proposing such a ridiculous thing) lived. So he had (predictively) gone to Kakashi, his ever trustworthy jounin mentor for help. It turned out that even though the one-eyed man had been to his pupil's apartment before, that was years ago and despite his good memory, he could only vaguely remember the location was around the red light district.

The _red light_ district. The slums of Konoha, underground black-market and home to whores, prostitutes and other shady figures along with homeless men, women and even children. Also known as the most dangerous non-ninja associated district in the whole of Konoha; rumoured to be filled with barely liveable conditions compared to the grandeur of the Hyuuga mansion. And his friend was living there. Suddenly Naruto's claim seemed more valid- not that Sasuke doubted the jinchuriki's words but it seemed so unlike him to see the blonde as something other than stupid and gullible.

Approaching the run-down building in which the blond was meant to reside at (he had gotten directions from the Hokage), the raven haired teen slowly began to ascend the numerous stair cases and was increasingly appalled. If he thought downstairs was horrible, then each level spiralling upward seemed to become more and more unliveable- and to think Naruto lived at the _very_ top. Worn out and tired, Sasuke had finally reached the apartment- graffiti stained and visible dents and scratches criss-crossing their way over the door and doorframe. What hit a never with the Uchiha were the unmistakable char marks created by fire, or perhaps a katon jutsu. Someone had tried to burn down Naruto's place before. As he examined the marks, a strange scratch in the shape of what seemed like a letter could be seen. Upon a closer look, it seemed as if there were extremely subtle engravings (none of which appeared legible to the raven) around not only the door, but the windows and top and bottom of the apartment complex. Strange.

As the teen peered through the window he blinked before activating his Sharingan. The apartment was completely empty, one hundred percent void of life. So where was Naruto?

* * *

Naruto awoke feeling tired and groggy, the events of the previous day catching up with him. He groaned as the blonde burrowed further under the warm blankets only to realize his covers were never this colour- nor were they so fluffy and numerous. Ah- so he was at Iruka's house, but how did he get there?

Sighing and unable to fall back asleep Naruto crept out of the room and drifted through the deserted corridors of Iruka's apartment to find the scarred man cooking breakfast.

"Naruto?"

The jinchūriki was pulled to attention when his former teacher and father figure called his name. "Yes?"

Iruka chuckled at the blonde's bedhead (which he had not noticed yet) and felt a great burden relieved when he saw the boy more relaxed than he had been in a while, seeing as Naruto rarely let down his guard anymore, even when sleeping. He still saw the child in Naruto, '_One that faced the cruelty of humanity too often and too early for any child.'_ He bitterly thought. "I have the day off today and breakfast isn't ready yet so go take a shower 'Ruto," He informed the boy cheerily before adding, "Oh, and fix that hair of yours, wouldn't want to walk around with such a messy bedhead, I called your…team to say you were unwell so feel free to stay for a while."

Naruto huffed indignantly but obliged, easily manoeuvring through the apartment and heading towards the shower. After taking a short, warm shower, Naruto put on a pair of loose black shinobi pants and bandaged his wrists, leaving his towel slung around his neck. A large inked tattoo could be seen on his back, resembling a fox made out of kanji and fuinjutsu where the tails curled around his torso and intertwined with the seal on his stomach. He lumbered over to take a seat at the table only to tense up when the echoing of footsteps could be heard stopping outside the door. It was only seconds later a soft chiming could be heard resonating throughout the dining area. Glancing to Iruka, who was in a vicious fight with the egg and frying pan (as cooking wasn't the teacher's forte) he saw the occupant nod to him to get the door.

Lumbering over he yanked open the door intent on stating that Iruka was busy and not to be disturbed until he finished when all words died in his throat. It was Sasuke. _'Shit.'_

* * *

A/N: So I realize this chapter is short- really, utterly, super short. I was thinking of adding more but that'll be in the next chapter which I PROMISE will be much longer~ The fluff will start soon ^w^ but for now: REVIEW FOR SASU/NARU GOODNESS =/=


	4. Chapter 3

Mask Built Off Lies

Summary: Shinobi from all around feared the Shin'en no Kitsune. People of Konoha simply saw Naruto as a troublemaking brat. How wrong they were. The jinchūriki is finding it harder to keep his 'mask' of happiness on and his team start to suspect something. Especially Sasuke.

Disclaimer: I only own my laptop…(well, among other things but not Naruto for sure)

A/N: Wow, thank-you for the reviews considering the last chapter was very short! (They make me grin like an idiot when I read them) Anyway, this one is longer, hope you enjoy~ I like angst so this story is gonna be piled with it ^^

_(And a note, Namikaze Legacy is now on __**Semi-hiatus**__ until my muse returns- I have part of the chapter down but am working on and off the rest, I still will be updating it but slowly.)_

* * *

"S-Sasuke?" Naruto stuttered. What was he doing here? The blonde was one hundred precent sure that Iruka had told his team he had the day off because he was sick but had Kakashi-sensei forgotten and sent Sasuke to find him?

"Oi, dobe. Where were you? I went to your apartment and you weren't there so I came to ask Iruka and here you are, I mean what the heck? You have some explaining to do." His raven teammate bit out through grit teeth. _'Why did you run off yesterday?'_

Naruto was about to heatedly retort when he saw Sasuke's face colour slightly as a slight blush made its way onto his cheeks. "Why are you blushing?" He demanded in the usual boisterous voice he had always used with his team. It was then he realized his semi-naked state and fought the faint red staining his tanned complexion. "Oh."

Sasuke struggled to push down the blush as he attempted to avoid is eyes straying…downward. He absently observed how his teammate seemed extremely well toned and fit, bordering on hot- Wait wait, he did _not_ just think that.

"Teme. Get. Out. Now." The door was slammed into his face before Sasuke could react, leaving a flustered Naruto as he ran towards his room and hurriedly pulled on his clothes.

* * *

Ah. So Sasuke, being the prime shinobi example the council thought he was, was 'concerned' and worried as to why Naruto had run off after his little…calamity the day before. One thing was for sure, Naruto was not amused.

"Why did you run off yesterday dobe?" His raven-haired teammate demanded, impatient for an answer. Half of him was genuinely curious as to why the blonde had said those things but the other half was the typical Uchiha complex of 'I am an Uchiha and therefore should know everything'.

Unfortunately for him, Naruto did not appear to share the same views that having a prominent clan name gave you automatic superiority. He thought along the lines of: Suck it up you pansy I don't give a shit. (Of course, he never voiced it with that wording lest his team think it was strange he was able to use such a large word in his vocabulary if they weren't suspicious enough already.)

The blonde took a deep breath momentarily forgetting his dark-haired friend beside him. He had worked so hard to create the mask he had now, telling the truth wasn't an option.

Bringing a hand up to rub the back of his head in a sheepish movement, the jinchūriki replied in a perfectly normal tone, "Never knew you were worried about me teme! I betcha Sakura-chan's wondering where we are right now so we better hurry if not we may be later than Kakashi-sensei for once!" He inwardly cringed as his idiot persona took hold but mentally congratulated himself on the Naruto-ish language. Hopefully Sasuke would leave him alone and ask questions when they got to the team 7 training grounds.

He was right. His 'rival' simply raised an eyebrow at the vague response but conceded and the two walked on in silence. What they saw next left Sasuke gaping in a rare act of UUN (Un-Uchiha-ness) and Naruto choking on…air. For there, on the bridge, was their teacher in all his 'hip attitude'.

"Y-y-you're _early_!" The blonde spluttered out incoherently. Kakashi. Early. No, something had to be wrong, one never _ever_ put those two words in the same sentence unless it was 'Kakashi is never early'. Yet the truth was obviously there in front of his eyes, the day had come, where his teacher had gotten to a team meeting earlier than him. The small voice in the back of Naruto's head reminded him that he technically had the day off and Kami knows why he was attending the meeting at all.

Their teacher simple gave his trademark 'eye-smile' before replying, "Maa maa, if you boys think 1:30 in the afternoon is early then by all means, go ahead, even though the meeting was called at 9:30. But do keep in mind for the future that I have a _reputation_ to uphold and arriving earlier than my students is sullying it." _'And Gai will rant to me about how youthful I am becoming by arriving early to team meet-ups.'_ He silently added while involuntarily shivering. "Now, Naruto- I was told by a certain dolphin that you were unwell but since you have come I'll assume you'll be in good enough condition to take a mission today, and Sasuke, it was helpful of you to search for him."

At this, the silver-haired jounin's eyes took a sterner look as if about to reprimand a disobedient child. "But before that, Naruto, you owe us an explanation."

The jinchūriki bit his lip. "Sakura-chan…about yesterday I- well, it's just best to you about _that_ incident yesterday that left me in a bad mood…" Everyone leaned in closer and the pink-haired girl felt relieved that her teammate's affectionate '-chan' had been re-added to her name.

Kakashi, however was curious as to see what caused Naruto to snap yesterday. If it had anything to with the Kyuubi then he had to inform Tsunade-sama as quickly as possible in-case Naruto's mental stability was decreasing as a side-effect of the Kyuubi seal.

"It all started yesterday- I went to visit Baa-chan and I caught the hag drinking sake. But I saw her drooling over my ninja ID paper I had handed in (late) as it needed the seal thingo of the Hokage again. You don't know how long I spent on doing that remake of the Yondaime's photo! It took me hours and after rubbing off all the paint I have to do it again because she drooled on it! EW!" He paused to catch his breath before continuing, "That was where I lost my temper and called her a hag and she…s-she…" His lower lip quivered and eyes watered with unshed tears. Everyone was listening intently to see what happened next.

"SHE CONFISCATED MY RAMENNNNN!" He wailed unhappily as Kakashi nearly face-planted if not for his 'cool' and 'hip' attitude he had to keep up in public. But Naruto was far from over as he continued to ramble, "And what's worse was that Iruka-sensei AGREED with her and Ichiraku's refuses to sell me any for a WEEK! I guess I was just really upset and stressed because I had to go shopping." Naruto grinned to himself, now was the guilt-trip of his cleverly crafted lie. "But since we haven't been taking any missions lately I…" His voice took a softer and more forlorn tone, "I haven't been receiving the mission payments because we haven't done any missions and I spent it all on my food which ran out…"

"I'm sorry," He murmured thought he truthfully didn't feel a hint of remorse at accusing his team. "I just sorta felt that I didn't know what to do and I though Sakura wouldn't want to go on a mission because of…_him_ sealed in my gut but then I would have to go hungry again and I didn't want that…"

* * *

A high D-rank and very well paid left team 7 in a relatively good mood as they left for the day, but seeing Naruto hurry back home all too quickly peaked his interest. Deciding not to take any chances, Sasuke headed on first before leaving for the blonde's house in order to avoid getting caught following his teammate.

Several (hundred) twisting and turning alleys and streets later and god knows how much stairs later, the Uchiha found himself at Naruto's apartment, only to find no-one in and the door locked. What occurred as strange was that the door itself held no visible locking mechanism but instead, a glowing array of seals etched around the door. Sasuke suddenly felt stupid- those weird markings were runes and seals. Fuinjutsu. On Naruto's door. _Naruto _knew fucking _fuinjutsu. _

Activating his Sharingan, he could make out some parts of the array that glowed brighter and cautiously pressed his fingertips to it simultaneously. He didn't expect the door to open but he didn't want to get electrocuted or whatever other strange things that could happen to him from the seals if they sensed he was breaking in. Applying a bit more pressure, he imbued his lighting element chakra into the tips of his fingers and cancelled out the seal. This was one of the few times he was grateful for Orochimaru teaching him how to 'hack' and breach simple security seals.

Why he was trying to gain access to his rival's house he didn't know but perhaps it was to sate his curiosity because no matter how he looked at it, Naruto's tale from before didn't sit quite right with him as Naruto-ish as it seemed. Either Naruto was telling a semi-truth or he was good at lying. Good enough to fool even Kakashi.

Gingerly pushing open the door, he navigated his way to the kitchen and opened the nearest cupboard. There was food- not hoards per say but definitely enough to keep Naruto without shopping for provisions for about a week or two. So he was lying, but why?

Crossing the small corridor he came across the only room in the apartment that he assumed was Naruto's. In obvious black ink runes and kanji were etched across the surface of the door and wall, curling and twisting over the surface in an entrancing manner. From the moment he laid his eyes upon it Sasuke knew breaking into the blonde's room that he mysteriously kept under such precaution was nigh impossible for someone of his calibre. That was, until he saw the door slightly ajar. It was evident Naruto was not aware he did not fully close his room door before going out, leaving the seal circulation incomplete and not activated. Saske cautiously pushed open the door before peering inside.

Naruto's room was eerily clean. Yet it wasn't the state of the room that irked Sasuke, it was the belongings in it. The room was bare of any belongings of a normal teenager, no magazines and rubbish with dirty clothes strewn over, a simple desk and bookshelf. Not a single book out of place and notes categorized neatly into piles- no photos, drawings or accessories in sight, simply a bleak room. He did not know how someone could bare living in a room so void of life, heck, even the sheets were perfectly folded. What caught his attention though was the porcelain mask laid neatly on the table next to the bed. The red markings coiled and wound over the surface of the white mask with visible black markings etched over the eye holes. _'A Kitsune.'_ Sasuke thought incredulously at why it would be there- before realization came crashing down. It was an ANBU mask. And not any mask, but the one of _the_ famed Shin'en Kitsune.

"Sasuke?" Cerulean eyes narrowed as they locked onto the raven.

Panic was the only thing in Sasuke's head as he fumbled around for an excuse. Ok, so here he was, caught searching someone's apartment and the said person now glaring him down while being a potentially more dangerous person and possible killer. "N-Naruto, I can explain-"

"Out." The blonde grit out as a wave of killed intent washed over the apartment. _**"NOW!"**_

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A/N: Dun dun dun! What happens next? **REVIEW AND I WILL UPDATE FASTER! GO GO GO~! ^^**


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